Autumn leaves

On the allotment next to us, I noticed that when they planted their first early potatoes, they tucked them up warm with a covering of last year's leaves before filling in the trench.  Is that worth doing? We were thinking of getting some straw, but have about 6 sacks of leaves sitting about doing nothing !!  Waiting for advice with bated breath!

I'm sure it can only help. Our allotment site provide us with a big pile of leaves every so often and we covered our potatoes with it last week ourselves. It doesn't really give any nutrients, maybe a bit of nitrogen but it helps keep it warm and is meant to keep weeds down if put on top of the piles too.

I use a LOT of leaves for many things. As you indicated, those leaves will give some insulating value from the cold soil for the early potatoes. And they'll eventually break down and attract worms, which are invaluable. I add loads of shredded leaves to my soil every fall, and by spring I've got loads of worms.  It's not a waste to add leaves direct.

I stack leaves from home on my lotty in some wire containers made from chicken wire and bits of wood.  Got a load now rotting down nicely and I hope to have some ready for when I sow carrots

I only use my leaves from home so I know there's no dog muck in it